The Silver Lake Lodge — Hotel in Winter Park

Bills itself as “majestic adults only bed & breakfast” and “Getaway in the heart of the Rockies.” It fits. About ½ mile above private Silver Lake and near famous St. Mary’s Glacier. We arrived cold and wet on the heels of 203-miles hiking south through the Rockies and being caught in hailstorm near the glacier. You enter on upper level where rooms are. Office, kitchen, lounges on lower level. Margaret called up to us, “leave your packs and come on down.” She offered tea, SO welcome! This place is bed& breakfast—very nice breakfast with the room but you can sign up for any level of meals. We had salmon first night with incredible garnish, chicken for lunch and steak for second dinner, all with salads and delectable vegies and dessert. Our last morning we wanted to get off before breakfast was served so Marget made us bag lunch sandwiches—ham & cheese and PB. Told me how to set the coffeemaker which otherwise comes on at 7. Seven bedrooms. Rustic, beautiful wood floors, walls and banisters. Scenic paintings of landscape and wildlife. 2 nice lounges with comfy stuffed furniture, games, DVDs, big screen tv and a miniature library. I spent a day reading interesting book while it mostly rained outside. When rain broke in afternoon we took short hike to the lake and trailhead for ST. Mary’s Glacier about a mile up the road. The burg of St Mary’s charges $20 to park at TH. We saw glacier for free on our way to the lodge. All the bathroom fixtures brand, wonderful hot water on demand. Bath was awesome. Lush towels and Margaret brought extras. They also had a four-course dinner with wine available for $179 per couple. Two couples did that. Another couple brought own food and took off all day for hike in the rain! Margaret and Andrew are Polish, formerly had a small motel in other Colo town. Bought this in 2019 right before COVID which was a hardship. Just coming back. Biggest season summer fall though a few winter guests, open year round. Margaret is the cook/ hostess and Andrew the maintenance guy. Margaret said her name is quite different in Polish but she changed to Margaret when got her citizenship cuz tired of it being mangled. She is lively and hospitable,...

Awesome, just awesome. That's how much we loved the Silver Lake Lodge and want to return for another stay.

My wife and I planned a 4-day trip to Colorado primarily to see a concert at Red Rocks Amphitheater located on the edge of Denver. We decided to spend the rest of the time in the mountains and I searched for a place to stay. I found the Silver Lake Lodge on TripAdvisor and was impressed with the reviews and subsequently booked 3 nights. I must say the reviews were spot-on. Let me share our impressions

Constructed of logs, it is a beautiful lodge nestled high in the Rockies. You have stunning scenery all around you, plus it's quiet, clean mountain air and wildlife...you couldn't ask for more. Located near Idaho Springs and approximately 10 miles north of I-70, the drive also provides gorgeous views of the mountains. You are climbing approximately 3,000 feet in elevation after leaving the I-70 which might intimidate some drivers not comfortable with mountain driving. Believe me, it's worth the drive. Take it slow, you'll get there and will have enjoyed the views along the way.

The owners, Taylor and Paula, take amazing care of their guests. The rooms and other facilities are very clean and beautifully maintained. The food is wonderful. They are very attentive to your needs and do whatever to make sure you're comfortable, especially the little things. As an example, my wife and I had spent the day away from the Lodge exploring the mountains. On our way back we picked up a pizza-to-go in Idaho Springs and planned to eat it when we got to the Lodge. When we went to the common room which has a table to eat, Taylor was there and asked us about our day. He then went and got us plates, silverware and napkins from the kitchen so we didn't have to eat off the pizza box. Was it a big deal? No, but it shows how they want to take care of their guests. The morning we left, they gave us muffins for the road and a "to go" cup of coffee for my wife. We hated to drive away.

Do yourself a favor and book your stay at this place versus the nearby casinos or the crowded hotels of Summit County. It's well worth it. We definitely...

This was our worst hotel/lodge experience and nothing even comes close. To emphasize my point, we paid for three nights and left in half an hour. Also to give an idea about the hospitality, the owner did not ask even once why we were leaving within an hour of checking in. In fact he did not even get out from his room. Don't go by the google reviews (we made that mistake), it is a genuinely overpriced small room and an average view (you can get much better accommodation elsewhere for the same price with better view and a host which will care). But what totally drove us off was the behavior of the host, we did not expect such rude behavior and were very disappointed. As soon as we entered we were told the breakfast is at 7 (the printed page in the room said 9 though), we were told that it doesn't "start" at 7 it IS at 7. Guess we will keep an alarm ready for the vacation. Then we had previously emailed and confirmed if we would be allowed to keep some stuff in fridge and also allowed to heat it, when we asked in person we were told it's typically not allowed, but hey ok. The Wi-Fi password on the page in the room was wrong, when we inquired about it first off we were told that it is only for email and such and then the correct password was told. It such came off as rude. Like they could have the password on the paper and let us know that the bandwidth is limited (or mention that the bandwidth is limited on the website instead of highlighting "Free WiFi" as a feature). Based on all this we decided it was not worth it, considering every place to eat is 20 mins down the winding road and we were not sure what sort of meals were in order. We called the host and asked to meet him as we were leaving. We were told to just hang up the keys on the door and leave and that we were not getting any deposit back, we said it was fine. That was the end of the conversation, not even a simple "what went wrong". Enough...